據8月30日The Punch報，今年1月至5月，因為燃除了909億立方英尺的天然氣，尼日利亞聯邦政府和該國的石油公司預計損失了871.6億奈拉。

根據尼日利亞國家石油公司（Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation）獲得的數據，石油公司在1月份浪費了199.5億立方英尺的天然氣，2月份為182.7億立方英尺，3月份為197.1億立方英尺，4月份為170.9億立方英尺， 5月份為150.7億立方英尺。

截至周一，天然氣的價格為每1000立方英尺2.53美元，909億立方英尺的燃除意味著將損失2.2998億美元或871.6億奈拉。

NNPC表示，今年5月，國內市場供氣總量為13億立方英尺/天，出口市場供氣總量為33.3億立方英尺/天。這意味著，每天生產的天然氣中，有61.97%用于商業用途，其余38.03%用于重新注入用作上游燃料氣或燃除。本月，氣體燃除率為6.50%，即4.8619億立方英尺。”

公司表示，在五月份供應給本地市場每天的13億立方英尺中，約有8.3395億立方英尺/天，即64%供應給燃氣發電廠，其余的4.6915億立方英尺/天，即36%的供應給了其他行業。

PUNCH曾在5月份報告稱，尼日利亞聯邦政府表示，今年該國石油和天然氣公司支付的天然氣燃除罰款將增加到1035.1億奈拉。聯合會預算辦公室主任本·阿卡布澤表示，政府將加緊執行2018年修訂的燃氣燃除罰款支付制度(導致2020年燃氣燃除罰款從447億奈拉上調至1035.1億奈拉)。

根據修訂后的天然氣燃除支付制度，每天生產1萬桶或以上石油的公司將支付每1000立方英尺天然氣2美元的費用，而過去為每1000立方英尺10奈拉。石油日產量低于1萬桶的公司將支付每1000 立方英尺0.5美元的燃除費用。

尼日利亞國家石油公司于2016年10月獲得批準，旨在實施政府的政策目標，在未來兩到三年內消除尼日利亞油氣田的氣體燃燒量，這將為尼日利亞帶來巨大的乘數效應和發展成果。

王佳晶 摘譯自 The Punch

原文如下：

FG, oil companies lose N87.16bn to gas flaring

The Federal Government and oil companies in the country lost an estimated N87.16bn from January to May this year as a total of 90.9 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas was flared.

The oil companies wasted 19.95 billion scf of gas in January; 18.27 billion scf in February; 19.71 billion scf in March; 17.90 billion scf in April, and 15.07 billion scf in May, according to data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

With the price of natural gas put at $2.53 per 1,000scf as of Monday, the 90.9 billion scf flared translates to an estimated loss of $229.98m or N87.16bn (using the official exchange rate of N379/dollar).

The NNPC said a total of 1.30 billion scf per day of gas was supplied to the domestic market and 3.33 billion scfd was supplied to the export market in May.

“This implies that 61.97 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised while the balance of 38.03 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared. Gas flare rate was 6.50 per cent for the month under review i.e. 486.19 million scfd,” it said.

The corporation said out of the 1.30 billion scfd of gas supplied to the domestic market in May, about 833.95 million scfd, representing 64 per cent was supplied to gas-fired power plants while the balance of 469.15 million scfd or 36 per cent was supplied to other industries.

The PUNCH had reported in May that the Federal Government said gas flare penalty payment by oil and gas companies in the country would increase to N103.51bn this year.

The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, said the government would “tighten implementation of the 2018 revised gas flare penalty payment regime (resulting in upward revision of gas flare penalty for 2020 from N44.7bn to N103.51bn)”.

According to the revised payment regime for gas flaring, oil firms producing 10,000 barrels of oil or more per day will pay $2 per 1,000 standard cubic feet of gas, compared to N10 per 1,000 scf in the past.

Firms producing less than 10,000 barrels of oil per day will pay a gas flare penalty of $0.5 per 1,000 scf.

Approved in October 2016, the NGFCP was designed as the strategy to implement the policy objectives of the government for the elimination of gas flares from Nigeria’s oil and gas fields in the near term of between two and three years, with potentially enormous multiplier and development outcomes for Nigeria.